For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. Hebrews 12:6
There is a tendency among Christians to view anything unpleasant that happens to them as the result of “spiritual warfare.” When a difficulty arises, many immediately ask God to remove their distress. The problem is that their predicament may have nothing to do with Satan or with spiritual warfare. It may appear far more glorious for us to explain our hardships as Satan's determined attacks against us, rather than admitting that we are merely reaping what we have sown and are being disciplined by our heavenly Father (Gal. 6:7). What is often mistaken as Satan's attack may actually be chastisement from our loving Father. If you have neglected your role as spiritual teacher to your children, God may allow them to fall into sin. If you have been dishonest at work, God may correct you by letting you face the consequences. It would be foolish to pray that God would ease your discomfort. God is disciplining you in order to gain your attention and bring necessary change to your life. How tragic never to make the connection between your problems and God's discipline. God's discipline will not help you if you dismiss it as Satan's doing or spiritual warfare. Not every hardship is the chastisement of God, but Scripture indicates that God will discipline you. If you misunderstand God's chastening, you may actually blame Him for not answering your prayers or failing to protect you from Satan. Meanwhile, God is warning you of the danger you face because of your sin. His nature is perfect love, and He corrects you because He has your ultimate good in His heart. - Blackaby Experiencing God
We indeed go through many things in life. Both the pleasant and the unpleasant alike. We indeed ask as we read in this devotional for God to remove the unpleasant things, but what indeed if these unpleasant things are wrought in God? What indeed if these circumstances are for our benefit, to actually answer our prayers for God's Will in our lives? What indeed!
My Dear Reader, you must understand that once someone does see the light, and comes to Christ for salvation, He loves us too much to leave us as He found us.
We also must realize that His Will is to transform us into Himself. To change who we are to reflect Himself to a dark, lost world. We will indeed have a part in the body of Christ to fulfill, and training will begin to bring that about.
Anyone who has ever seen, spoken with someone who has, or has experienced basic training knows that instructors are GOING to take what walked into the service and transform each person into what is useful to that branch of the service. Thoughts, actions, all are changed, transformed if you will, into the desired result. Coming to Christ you will be transformed. Willing or sadly, unwillingly, it will happen.
If indeed you have ever prayed His Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, you have been praying that God overrules and overrides your will.
Read that again. You are telling God to replace your will with His Will.
We pray such things and then when the transition begins to happen we complain in prayer about it! Remember the statement said by Jesus? Take up your own cross and follow Me. Each Disciple did this.
We have a life to live in this time in which we were born. We indeed will be enticed, seduced even, by the world to take an off ramp from the road God has us on. To seek our will rather than His.
To be transformed also requires our trust in the one doing this work in us.
If we believe the truths of the Bible then we need to believe all of it. Giving up our wants and desires in exchange for the wants and desires of our God.
Interesting to me in my Bible reading this morning was in the sending out of the 12 Disciples, Jesus warned them about trusting people. They had a message to deliver, a work to perform, in service to God. I also thought it interesting that in the details of their mission was probably a direct statement to Judas concerning money. Don't take any, don't accumulate any.
If you're intent on coming to Christ only to live the way you want, you are going to have a seriously rough life.
If you are thinking you can go do what you want and leave the serving of God to others, you are going to have a seriously rough life.
You come to Christ you are no longer your own. You were bought with a price, the blood of Jesus Christ. We owe our lives to live for Him who gave His all for us.
Our getting frustrated at life not going our way is only going to get worse if we are trying to call the shots.
Our disappointment is going to get worse.
Our crying out to God is going to get more intense the more we fight to be, well honestly, left alone to live life our way.
We do do that! We sometimes see where life is heading and pray for God to intervene. Well our sanctification is His Will for us, not necessarily our good pleasure. His Spirit WILL continue the work in us until either we are called home to Heaven or the Rapture of the Church.
Transformed lives are the Will of God.
Stagnant lives are not.
If your life is full of your will being done...whether or not it's fraught with troubles or not...and you claim to be a Christian...you need to really check to be sure you are saved.
There's only ever been One who didn't need transformed. That was and is Jesus.
The Spirit has work for you to be doing in your stay upon this Earth. He's not here at work in your life to give you everything you want in life. He's not here to give you all sunshine and rainbows. He's not here to leave your life alone. He's here to make you more like Christ. Jesus said the Spirit will teach us all things. Will teach, not might teach, not maybe teach.
So where do you go from here?
Life is probably complicated.
Life got a tremendous leap forward in complicated in the last few years.
We see signs of things that Jesus said to look for in regards to His return and yet way too many believers are bent on living for themselves.
In my dietary changes that I have been doing, I have had to give up a great deal. Foods that I love in order to bring about the desired result of a healthier life. I will be brutally honest and say that I hate it. But it's plainly obvious that had God not forced me down this path, I certainly wouldn't have chosen it, I never would have survived the crunch time we went through to move here. I would have been in the hospital.
Before you cry out to God to remove what is unpleasant to you, make sure its not Him transforming you.
Before you cry out to God to change your life, make sure that isn't what you really are experiencing at His direction.
Before you sulk at what you are going through, make sure it's not a consequence to your actions of trying to live your life your way.
His Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Set your mind in things above not on things here.
Love your Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit.
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